The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page 62

IHIOWEIS MUSIC NEWS AND REVIEWS REVIEWS Top albums No twang in Twain By JEFFREY LEE PUCKETT Courier-Journal Critic 1. Garth Brooks: "Sevens" 2. 2Pac: Still Down (Remember 3. Celine Dion: "Let's Talk About Love" 4. Barbra Streisand: "Higher Ground" 5.

Metallica: "Reload" 6. LeAnn Rimes: "You Light Up My Life Inspirational Songs" 7. Shania Twain: "Come on Over" 8. Chumbawaba: "Tub-thumper" 9. Spice Girls: "Spiceworld" 10.

Hanson: "Snowed In" I I Hip-hop history By MIKE GRANT Courier-Journal Critic "KURTIS BLOW PRESENTS THE HISTORY OF RAP VOLS. 1-3" Various (Rhino) Formats: cassette, CD Leave it to the archaeologists at Rhino Records to unearth these treasures. Thanks to them and the original rap master Kurtis Blow, yon nlso can experience the beginning of rap. While the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" is commonly acknowledged as the first rap song and Run DMC the first hit rap group, "The History of Rap" shows the true origins. Like jazz, which traces its roots to New Orleans musicians, rap's roots in the South Bronx in New York City.

From there, rap has exploded to be the music of urban and suburban Top singles 1. Elton John: "Candle in the Wind 1997" 2. LeAnn Rimes: "How Do I Live" 3. Usher: "You Make Me Wanna 4. LSG: "My Body" 5.

Mase: "Feels So Good" 6. Somethin' for the People Featuring Trina Tamara: "My Love Is the Shhh!" 7. Robyn: "Show Me Love" 8. Chumbawaba: "Tub-thumping" 9. Hanson: "I Will Come to You" 10.

Puff Daddy and the Family: "It's All About the Benjamins" "COME ON OVER" Shania Twain (Mercury) Formats: cassette, CD Shania Twain has cut a swath through country music to the tune of eleventy-seven billion records sold. You can look it up. Her rivals have been left staring at Twain's backside. Twain's breakthrough album, last year's "The Woman in Me," is history's third-best-selling album by a female singer, right behind Whitney Houston and Alanis Morissette, with more than 12 million sold. Those two women are pop singers, of course, but Twain is only inches from joining them.

There's little twang left in Twain. Since hooking up with her husband-producer Robert "Mutt" Lange, famous for his work with ACDC and Def Lep-pard, Twain has applied her booming pipes to a country-rock mix that still felt at home on country radio. But "Come On Over" sounds more like a pop singer flirting with country the only thing left is to revamp the marketing, get some long-hairs in the band and hit the rock circuit. Twain, who writes the lyrics while Lange handles the music, has filled "Come On Over" with her usual sass. Even the song titles have attitude: "If You Wanna Touch Her, "Man! I Feel Like a "Whatever You Do! Don't!" and "Rock This Country!" (What's! Up! With! Those! Exclamation! Points!) Lange, meanwhile, slips in a few dozen hooks, most of the rock and pop variety, and turns Twain loose.

It's a good formula, although Twain really pushes her luck with unrelenting perkiness and spunk. She's too cute, but cute apparently sells. A lot. Shania Twain is changing her tune on "Come On Over, which sounds more like a pop singer flirting with country. Top albums 1.

2Pac: Still Down (Remember 2. Erykah Badu: "Live" 3. LSG: "Levert.Sweat.Gill" 4. Various: "In the Beginning There Was Rap" 5. Mystikal: "Unpredictable" 6.

Mase: "Harlem World" 7. Soundtrack: "Soul Food" 8. MJG: "No More Glory" 9. Rakim: "The 18th Letter" 10. JAY-Z: "In My Lifetime, 1" youth.

"The History of Rap" is divided into three distinct CDs, which are sold separately: "The Genesis," "The Birth of the Rap Record" and "The Golden Age." It's great fun listening to the influential songs of James Brown It Up or Turnit and the Jackson Five Along and Yes, that's right. Michael "The King of Pop" Jackson had a hand in rap's creation. It's also great to be reminded of where the original samples of popular songs come from. The bridge to Young MC's "Bust a Move" is from the 1971 hit "Scorpio" by Dennis Coffey The Detroit Guitar Band. The beginning of LL Cool J's "I'm Bad" is stolen from "Theme from S.W.A.T." by Rhythm Heritage.

On the series' more recent works, you can look back and see the impact of some artists. Grand Master Flash's "The Message" changed rap from bubble-gum music into a forum for social commentary on city life, like a jungle sometimes It makes me wonder how I keep from going Public Enemy passed over slower jams and brought rap into the modern age with its 120-beats-per-minute rhymes. From J.B. to Chuck "The History of Rap" is an essential. "Strawberry Wine." Berg didn't give away all her good songs, though.

She kept enough to put out "Sunday Morning to Saturday Night," one of the best albums out of Nashville this year. Berg's style is somewhat reminiscent of Roseanne Cash, but with more twang and less Angst. And the girl can sure tell a story. The title track is about church-going in a small town. There's a certain tension, on Sunday morning, waiting to see which sinner will fall to his knees and confess, yet everyone is sincere in their desire to stay righteous from Sunday morning until Saturday night.

"Good 01' Girl" continues the exploration of small-town life with a wry, compassionate look at a waitress' life. The slow tempo implies some of her melancholy. "Some People Fall, Some People Fly" is a sweet tune of faith in love, wound around an arrangement full of fiddle, mandolin, acoustic guitar and even a Wurlitzer. If you like country music by strong, talented women such as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Trisha Yearwood and Roseanne Cash, Berg is in the same vein. Learn what Patty Loveless, Deana Carter, Pam Tillis and Yearwood already know: Matraca Berg can write a fine song.

Hidden jewel By LAURA YOUNKIN Special to The Courier-Journal "SUNDAY MORNING TO SATURDAY NIGHT" Matraca Berg (Rising Tide) Formats: cassette, CD Top country albums 1. Garth Brooks: "Sevens" 2. LeAnn Rimes: "You Light Up My Life Inspirational Songs" 3. Shania Twain: "Come On Over" 4. Trisha Yearwood: "(Song-book) A Collection of Hits" 5.

Brooks Dunn: "The Greatest Hits Collection" 6. Tim McGraw: "Everywhere" 7. LeAnn Rimes: "Blue" 8. George Strait: "Carrying Your Love With Me" 9. John Michael Montgomery: "Greatest Hits" 10.

Deana Carter: "Did I Shave My Legs For This?" From Billboard magazine Country-music fans may not recognize her name, but they know hr music. One of the most talented songwriters in country music today, Matraca Berg has penned ruch hits as "Wrong Side of Memphis," "Everybody Knows" and Internet alert! Find out more at our Web site: louisvillescene. com Page 6 The Courier-Journal SCENE December 6, 1997.